Happy St Lucia...
Here, in our home, for Christmas, red candles are a MUST!!! View On Black
In Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Finland, Lucia is venerated on December 13 in a ceremony where a girl is elected to portray Lucia. Wearing a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head, she walks at the head of a procession of women, each holding a candle. The candles symbolize the fire that refused to take St.Lucia's life when she was sentenced to be burned. The women sing a Lucia song while entering the room, to the melody of the traditional Neapolitan song Santa Lucia; the Italian lyrics describe the view from Santa Lucia in Naples, the various Scandinavian lyrics are fashioned for the occasion, describing the light with which Lucia overcomes the darkness. Each Scandinavian country has lyrics in their native tongues. After finishing this song, the procession sings Christmas carols or more songs about Lucia. A similar version occurs in Scandinavian communities and churches in the United States.
According to the Julian calendar, the night of Lucia was the longest night of the year. This is likely to be the reason why the tradition has lived on in the Nordic countries in particular, as the nights in November and December are very dark and long before the snow has fallen, and the idea of light overcoming darkness is thus appealing.
There are traces of the legends of Saint Lucia in the Nordic countries even in the Middle Ages, and her day of remembrance is December 13th (just like the Lussi). Yet another name is relevant here, namely Lucifer( In Dutch that means a matchstick!). His name has the same etymological background (the name literally means "light-bringer").
I wish you all the very best, and thanx for all your kind words, time, comments, invites, faves and Awards. Very much appreciated.
M, (*_*)
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Why not view the set as a slide-show?
Also I often upload more than one image at the same time, I see a tendency to only view the last uploaded...
Fun Blog HERE: magdaindigo.blogspot.com/2009/11/light-in-dark-season.html
Happy St Lucia...
Here, in our home, for Christmas, red candles are a MUST!!! View On Black
In Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Finland, Lucia is venerated on December 13 in a ceremony where a girl is elected to portray Lucia. Wearing a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head, she walks at the head of a procession of women, each holding a candle. The candles symbolize the fire that refused to take St.Lucia's life when she was sentenced to be burned. The women sing a Lucia song while entering the room, to the melody of the traditional Neapolitan song Santa Lucia; the Italian lyrics describe the view from Santa Lucia in Naples, the various Scandinavian lyrics are fashioned for the occasion, describing the light with which Lucia overcomes the darkness. Each Scandinavian country has lyrics in their native tongues. After finishing this song, the procession sings Christmas carols or more songs about Lucia. A similar version occurs in Scandinavian communities and churches in the United States.
According to the Julian calendar, the night of Lucia was the longest night of the year. This is likely to be the reason why the tradition has lived on in the Nordic countries in particular, as the nights in November and December are very dark and long before the snow has fallen, and the idea of light overcoming darkness is thus appealing.
There are traces of the legends of Saint Lucia in the Nordic countries even in the Middle Ages, and her day of remembrance is December 13th (just like the Lussi). Yet another name is relevant here, namely Lucifer( In Dutch that means a matchstick!). His name has the same etymological background (the name literally means "light-bringer").
I wish you all the very best, and thanx for all your kind words, time, comments, invites, faves and Awards. Very much appreciated.
M, (*_*)
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Why not view the set as a slide-show?
Also I often upload more than one image at the same time, I see a tendency to only view the last uploaded...
Fun Blog HERE: magdaindigo.blogspot.com/2009/11/light-in-dark-season.html